


Blank Space

by asmaanixx



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-12
Packaged: 2018-03-01 02:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2756285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asmaanixx/pseuds/asmaanixx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It all started with a banter between Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak in an alternate universe. But slowly, it evolved into so much more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Hope You Choke To Death

**Author's Note:**

> This is a really weird, not-my-best piece. But I have to write something to get out of the writer's block that I'm slowly forming. So you might see a couple more of these..
> 
> Update: The summary above is not just for the relationship between Oliver and Felicity, but also between this piece of work and me. It had really just started with a small banter. But slowly, somehow, it evolved into more.
> 
> Would like to give a shout-out to TXDrEa8377 for leaving behind a comment which eventually inspired me to continue on. Thank you. :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The banter that started it all.

“Do you _know_ who I am?” Oliver asked, squinting his eyes at the young blonde before him.

“Nope! And don’t care.” She answered back with a bright smile. “Now, if you’ll excuse me but I would like to have the rest of my lunch _without_ the presence of a narcissist, so if you would please, the door is that way.” She said pointing the way to the exit door.

Oliver stood there, grinding his teeth and attempting to simmer his anger.

“Felicity, are you crazy?” The woman before the blonde whispered across the table. “That’s Oliver Queen!”

“You know,” Felicity threw her napkin across the table, “He could be Barack freaking Obama and I still wouldn’t care. Just because he was born with a golden spoon in his mouth doesn’t mean that he gets to have whatever he wants.”

“You know I can still hear you?” Oliver remarked.

“And I honestly don’t know why as I clearly told you to leave.” Felicity retorted.

“I am so sorry, Mr. Queen. We will leave immediately.” The brunette stood up and began gathering her belongings.  
Felicity glared at her betraying friend.

“Felicity, come on.” Her friend pleaded.

“Yes, Felicity. Leave.” Oliver said with the same smile that she had given him before.

When Felicity crossed her arms in defiance, her friend took a sigh and massaged her temples.

“Felicity, please.” She asked calmly.

Felicity stood up angrily and got out of the booth and immediately stopped before the man standing before her.

“Do you mind?” She asked, biting her words.

“Not at all.” Oliver replied with a Cheshire grin.

He moved aside and spread out his arm to make way.

“I hope you choke to death.” She muttered at him before storming away.


	2. Just Like Budapest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation between Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn immediately after Felicity Smoak and her friend leave.

“Wow that sure was something.” Tommy remarked after seating himself in the booth that was previously occupied by the brunette.

“That, was nothing but a waste of time.” Oliver responded.

As he sat down in his side of the booth, he was overcome with a strong scent of the tropics. He was immediately brought back to the time when he and his family had taken a trip to Corto Maltese with Tommy and his parents during spring break. It was one of the best vacations that he had ever taken. The breeze was heavenly, the waves and clear skies a pure delight. He could still hear Thea squealing as he and Tommy had chased after her with water guns. Moira had been getting sun-screen applied onto her back by Robert, but they both had noticed the kids and had laughed their hearts out. Malcolm had just come back from surfing and had seen the boys chasing Thea around. He had immediately chastised them and had taken Tommy’s water gun away. Everyone had gotten silent as they had known Malcolm to be the joking type and that had been no matter to get so serious over. Shortly enough, Malcolm had turned around on Thea and doused her himself while Oliver had joined in again; the sounds of everyone laughing and cheering echoing behind him.

“Oliver, what’s so funny?” Tommy asked with a bright smile.

“Hmm… oh, I was just thinking about our trip to Corto Maltese.” Oliver replied.

“Aaahh, Corto Maltese! That place was amazing! The food, and the waves, and the beaches, and the women!” Tommy sat back in his booth as he remembered his own experience of the trip. “What made you remember that all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know.” Oliver answered, resting his arms on the dining table. “I just… I don’t really know to be honest. I guess it’s just been such a long time since we’ve been on a vacation together.”

“Tell me about it. Ever since we graduated, all we’ve done is work. If it’s not a meeting, then it’s paper work. If it’s not paper work, then it’s scouting locations. If it’s not that, then it’s some boring old party filled with boring old people.” Tommy too rested his arms upon the table as he listed out his complaints.

“We really need a break.” Oliver remarked.

“Try telling that to our fathers. Do you know that lately I’ve been dreaming about arriving late to a board’s meeting just to have them laugh at me because I’m still in my underwear?”

Oliver gave out a hearty laugh at his friend’s plight.

“I’m serious! I need a break, or at least get laid.” Tommy exclaimed.

They both sat back as a waiter came along to remove the dishes that had belonged to the two women. After cleaning up the table, the waiter dropped off the menus, and apologized for the inconvenience they had faced earlier. While browsing through the menus, Tommy began humming.

“Stop that.” Oliver said.

“No.”

“Tommy, you know I hate it when you hum.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop.” Tommy replied, humming even louder.

Oliver took a sigh, and closed the menu. He chuckled as Tommy began to sing along.

“You and Thea are going to drive me crazy with this song.” Oliver remarked.

“That’s because it’s _so_ good! Now, I normally don’t like pop songs but this is _amazing_!”

When Oliver scrunched his nose and shook his head, Tommy grabbed his fork and began to sing aloud.

Laughing heartily, Oliver pleaded with Tommy to stop. It’s only when a waitress dropped by, that he did.

“Hi! My name is Kelly and I’ll be your waitress for today. Is there anything that I can get you started with?” 

“Yes, I would like to have today’s lunch special please.” Tommy ordered.

“And I would have the seafood platter.” Oliver said.

“Alright, would you like to have anything to drink?”

“Just water, thank you.”

“Alright, I will take these from you,” Kelly took the menu cards from the men and placed them under her arms. “The food will arrive shortly.”

Oliver looked at Tommy as the man stared after Kelly leaving them and helping other customers. When he turned around, Tommy went bright red.

“What?” He exclaimed upon seeing Oliver’s eyebrows shoot up.

“You _really_ need to get laid.” Oliver said chucking.

“I know. But hitting on the waitress isn’t worth it.” Tommy said dejectedly. “But you know what is…” Oliver noticed the bright glint in Tommy’s eyes and prepared himself for the dread that will surely follow. “Hitting on that feisty blonde.” And there’s the dread.

“We’re not talking about her.” Oliver said with a huff.

“Dude, she was _hot_!” Tommy whispered over the table. “The way she was firing at you… I had to think of my grandmother to keep my boner down.”

“If me getting berated gives you a rise, then I’m worried.” Oliver said with a pure look of horrification.

Tommy merely swiped his comment away.

“You’re seriously telling me you didn’t feel anything when she was going off on you?”

“I did.” Oliver stated. “I felt annoyed.”

Tommy rolled his eyes and slapped the table.

“Tommy, like I had said before, she’s nothing but a waste of time.” Oliver tried to reason.

“How do you know? You just met her.”

“First impressions are the last impressions.” Oliver shrugged.

“Don’t ever mix business with pleasure.” Tommy replied, shaking his head.

Oliver raised his hands as if to surrender.

“I’m just glad that’s the last time we’ll see her. So, let’s drop that crazy subject and get to something important.” Oliver said, desperately hoping they will on from the eccentric blonde.

“I hope not.” Tommy mumbled.

They both sat back again, as Kelly brought their food along. Looking at their table being covered entirely with various dishes, the two men raised their eyebrows at each other.

“Think we can finish all this?” Tommy asked.

“We can try.” Oliver replied.

“Just like Budapest?”

“Just like Budapest.” Oliver said with a bright smile.

The two men took off their business coats, rolled up their sleeves and began to feast.


	3. You're All Banned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Felicity's confrontation makes everything worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! I honestly don't know what I think of this chapter or where the story is heading from here as I have no real plot line in mind. But ehh, at least I'm writing something. Please do leave behind your lovely comments as they're actually inspiring me in terms of what direction I should take this story. :)

“I cannot _believe_ you stood me up like that!” Felicity yelled, as she marched through the door.

“Felicity, it was Oliver _Queen_. He’s a guy that you do _not_ want to mess around with.” Her friend explained as she gently closed the door.

“No!” Felicity spun around. “I don’t care who he is Caitlin, in fact I don’t care if it’s the Sultan of Arabia. If I pick a fight with someone I expect you to have my back.”

“Even if you’re wrong?” Caitlin raised her eyebrows.

“Even if I’m wrong!” Felicity shouted, looking up exasperated.

She pulled of her snow-flake adorned grey hat and shrugged out of her coat.

“Men like Oliver Queen need to be taught that they cannot trample all over us like that.” Felicity said loudly as she heard Caitlin opening the fridge.

“Well, we were there for a long time. Plus, we simply invaded the table without even asking if it was reserved or not.” Caitlin took a sip from her water bottle.

“I don’t care. That’s no way to treat the customers. You know what,” Felicity pointed at Caitlin. “I’m going to speak with the manager.”

“Felicity, please don’t.” Caitlin shook her head, fearing the trouble that will ensue.

“Yes, I am.” Felicity repeated, tugging her hat back on and putting on her red leather jacket. “I’m going to go and teach that bloody manager how to run a proper restaurant. We were there first, so we had no right to be thrown out.”

“We weren’t thrown out. We left willingly.” Caitlin said trying to talk her friend out.

“No. We were forced to leave. We deserve to be treated just as well as that bloody Queen.” Felicity said before slamming the door behind her.

“Oh Felicity.” Caitlin sighed.

She waited merely a moment before grabbing her keys.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------

Felicity was greeted with a cheerful, “Hi! How may I help you?” when she walked into the restaurant.

“Let me see your manager.” Felicity demanded, letting her purse dangle from her hands.

“Oh, is something wrong?” The receptionist’s face fell as she tried to assess the problem.

“Look lady, don’t try to get yourself involved in this okay? It doesn’t concern you. Now, let me see your manager.”

“Just, just one moment.” The receptionist left, leaving Felicity behind.

Seeing the restaurant practically empty, infuriated Felicity even more.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” She exclaimed.

She attracted a couple’s attention but they quickly averted their eyes when she looked at them. Her head snapped to a vague direction when she heard a, “Oh shit!” followed by laughter. Before she could pinpoint the exclamation, she was distracted by the manager.

“Hello, ma’am, you wished to speak with me?”

“Yeah, I do. I wanna know who the hell gave you the right to run this restaurant.” Felicity disregarded the red hue that was beginning to creep up on the manager’s face. “This entire restaurant is practically empty, and yet you have the audacity to just stand by and let a couple of obnoxious snobs to invade our privacy and compel us to leave? Do you treat all your customers the same or do you have favorites?”

“Ma’am, I can assure you all customers are treated equally with the utmost respect.” The manager defended.

“Bullshit!” Felicity shouted. “That’s pure bullshit. If that was the case then I wouldn’t be standing here yelling my head off now would I?”

“Who knows, maybe you would. There’s no telling with you.” Felicity snapped her attention and glared at the man who interrupted her.

She looked back at the manager with raised eyebrows and leaned herself back.

“Well,” She spread out her arms. “Are you going to just stand by and let this _jerk_ insult me, yet again?”

“Hey, this jerk’s name is Oliver Queen alright.” Oliver looked sternly at Tommy, who was pointing at him. “And we didn’t invade anyone’s privacy. That table was for us.”

“First and for the last time, I don’t give a damn about his name. And secondly,” Caitlin entered through the door and slapped her forehead as she looked between Felicity and the group of men she was fighting with. “If that table was truly for you, then why were we not informed of it prior to us sitting?” Felicity asked.

“We were,” Caitlin pulled Felicity back and whispered in her ear, “but you ignored them.” She gave a small smile to Oliver and Tommy. “Now, can we please go? I don’t want to get banned from here too.”

“No, I want an apology! Out of the entire restaurant they were only able to find _our_ table to reserve?”

“Out of the entire restaurant, you were only able to find _our_ table to sit at?” Oliver retorted.

“Hey look,” Felicity pointed a finger accusingly at Oliver. “I don’t need any of your misogynistic bullshit alright. I have to deal enough of that at work. I don’t need to face that in other aspects of my everyday life, especially in public spaces, that should be treating its people with the _same degree of respect_!” Felicity shouted, glaring at the manager.

“You’re absolutely right.” The manager said raising his hands. “I am terribly sorry for the inconvenience both of you have faced today.” He said looking between Felicity and Oliver.

“That’s not enough. What are you going to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again?” Felicity asked.

Caitlin exasperated, tugged Felicity’s arm but she only pulled it away. The manager beckoned someone over with his fingers, making Felicity and Oliver scrunch their eyebrows.

“All of you are banned from this restaurant.” The manager stated matter-of-factly.

“W-wait, what?” Oliver removed his hands from his pockets and looked shocked. “You can’t do that!”

“Yes I can and I am. Goodbye, Mr. Queen. I will be notifying your father about this insolence. As for you, young lady, well good luck having a decent meal at any restaurant with that attitude.”

The manager left the scene leaving behind his security guards to deal with the shocked members.

“Now, can we leave?” Caitlin asked not waiting to be pushed out of the building.

The sharp wind hit them all as they stumbled over each other.

“Hope you’re happy now!” Oliver shouted.

“Me? This is all _your_ fault!” Felicity retorted.

Tommy and Caitlin looked at each other tiredly and sat back against a rocky ledge.

“If you hadn’t decided to throw your weight around, this would never have happened.” Felicity accused.

“ _Excuse me_ , for using my status to get the finer things in life – like _peace_ and _quiet_. Two things I’m sure you’ve never heard about.” Oliver retorted.

Caitlin tilted her head as she observed how tight Oliver’s grey business coat was against his body. She could practically see the bulging biceps underneath the material.

“How much does Oliver work out?” Caitlin asked Tommy.

“Have no idea. Don’t even know if he gets the time.” He answered.

“Oh honey, you do _not_ get a body like that without having time.” Tommy looked at Caitlin scrunching his eyebrows as she dazed off.

“Sorry, but as long as obnoxious jerks like you are around, peace and quiet is something that I can’t afford.” Felicity replied.

“That’s not the only thing you can’t afford.” Oliver muttered.

“ _What_ did you say to me?” Felicity asked after gasping.

“Uh-oh,” Caitlin scrambled off the ledge as she saw Felicity gearing herself up for a real fight.

Seeing her, Tommy too, got off and followed her not really knowing what was going to happen.

“I _said_ , that’s not the only thing you can’t afford! Let me know if you’re missing a hearing aid. I’ll gift you one for free.” Oliver said.

“Why you little –” Caitlin held Felicity back before she could go any further.

“Oliver Queen!” Both girls diverted their attention to the woman who screamed out Oliver’s name. “Is that any way to speak to a young lady?”

The elegant woman walked up the steps, her eyes never leaving the sight of her son.

“Mom, _this_ ,” Oliver pointed at Felicity, “is not a lady. This is a nuisance!”

“Hey!” Felicity yelled, still captured in Caitlin’s hold.

“Oliver, this is _not_ what I expect of you. I have taught you better haven’t I?”

“But Mom, she –” Oliver gets cut off.

“Both of you,” pointing at both Tommy and Oliver, “get in the car now. We’re all very disappointed in you two.”

“Moira, please tell me we’re not having an intervention.” Tommy asked sheepishly.

When he got nothing but a stern look, Tommy hung his head. Oliver took his hands out of his pockets and clenched his teeth. He took a threatening step toward Felicity was interceded by his mother and Caitlin who was still keeping Felicity at bay.

“We’re not done.” Oliver warned the young blonde.

“You bet your ass we’re not.” She spoke glaringly.

“Come on Oliver, let’s go.” Tommy pulled on Oliver’s coat gently.

Glaring at Felicity for the last time, Oliver walked down the steps along with his friend and mother, while Caitlin took Felicity home.


	4. The Intervention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Felicity Smoak's and Oliver Queen's harsh punishment may prove to be more harmful than good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait, Oliver and Felicity are WHAT? :O
> 
> Yeahh, I'm having TOO much fun writing this! I can't wait to see what will happen next. :D

Oliver and Tommy were seated upon the couch with their heads hung low and their hands folded before them. Tommy’s mother, Rebecca, was pacing before them with her arms crossed, a clear sign of her anger. Malcolm was pouring himself a drink while Moira was seated upon the single couch, with her hand covering her mouth and her eyes following Rebecca. Robert was still at work but he had made his fury very clear to the boys.

“I am so disappointed.” Rebecca finally spoke, breaking the silence.

“Mom,” Tommy spoke up.

“Do _not_ interrupt me when I’m speaking Tommy!” Rebecca shouted, deflating Tommy. “I just cannot,” her eyebrows knitted together, “imagine why you two would do such a stupid thing? Couldn’t you have gotten somewhere else to sit? No, what was the need for you two to even talk to that girl? She was talking with the manager, so why would you interfere?” She rested her hands on her hips and faced the boys.

“Rebecca, she was being insolent. Her entire attitude and simply her loud mouth was irritating! She had absolutely _no_ respect for us.” Oliver defended.

“So you go and tarnish our name.” Rebecca said sternly.

“Let me remind you Queen,” She pointed at him. “Every single word that comes out of your mouth affects us all.”

“You don’t need to remind me, Rebecca.” Oliver stood up and eyed her down.

“Well, I clearly do,” She raised her eyebrows and faked a smile. “There’s a reason why we don’t attract the media, Oliver. A reason why we have to think twice before we make any move.”

“Mom, it’s just one hiccup. There’s no need to berate him over this.” Rebecca looked at her son. “You know very well that no one is better than Oliver out there in the field. It was one bad mistake that we both made. Everyone has their bad days; today was ours.”

Rebecca eyed Oliver down before looking at Moira and then her husband. She contemplated for a few seconds before arriving at a decision.

Looking back at Oliver, “Go pack your things.”

“Oh come on Mom!” Tommy protested while Moira and Malcolm sighed.

“You’ll be leaving tonight.” Rebecca announced to Oliver. “I’ll give you the details once you’re on the plane.”

Clenching his fist, Oliver left the room.

“Oliver,” Tommy called out but Oliver paid no attention. “Mom, that’s cruel. He just got back.”

“Do you want to go with him? Because I have no problem with that.” Rebecca stated.

“Dad! Aren’t you going to say anything?” Tommy turned towards his father.

“Sorry kiddo. She is the Boss.” Malcolm shrugged before taking a sip of his whiskey.

“This is bullshit!” Tommy exclaimed before storming out the room.

After the boys had left the room, Rebecca apologized to her friend.“Sorry Moira, but it had to be done.”

“Don’t be.” Moira rubbed her hands. “It had to be done. The boys need to realize that this is not a joke.”

“You know what the problem is? They’ve been given easy assignments so far.” Malcolm walked around the bar to the two ladies and offered them a drink. “They think this is all child’s play. We’ve blanketed them too much.”

“You’re absolutely right Malcolm.” Rebecca said. “I have let my love come in the way and I almost risked jeopardizing everything. It’s a good thing that Robert was able to bribe that manager or we would have all been in trouble.” She took a sip from her drink.

“It’s so hard to believe that something as simple as an argument could have ruined months of hard work.” Moira said shaking her head.

“This was a wake-up call, and we’ll treat it as such.” Rebecca responded.

“Where are you going to send him?” Malcolm asked rubbing his wife’s arm.

“I have a place in mind. But you probably won’t like it.” Rebecca looked pointedly at Moira in the eye who instantly went stiff.

\----------------------------------

Oliver was taking clothes out of his closet and placing them into his suitcase when Tommy entered.

“You’re really going through with this?” He asked shocked.

“Tommy, you very well know that I can’t just say no to your mom.”

“Like hell you can’t. You know she’s not going to send you some place safe.” Tommy stepped in front of Oliver. “You have to say no.”

“I can’t Tommy.” Oliver said raising his voice. “I messed up tonight and I need to pay the price.”

“Pay the price? Oliver,” He turned around to face Oliver’s back who was busying himself with packing. “You were being yourself for once. You were taking a break!”

“Which I had no right to take!” Oliver shouted. “Tommy, we can’t afford to be ourselves in the public eye. We’re prisoners to our name.”

“You know in times like this, I wish we didn’t have our name.”

“Me too. But we don’t get to choose our blood.” Oliver stated heavily.

He reached above his closet and brought down a green duffel bag.

“Where do you think you’ll be headed?” Tommy sat down on the bed and watched Oliver pick out the documents he thinks will be required.

“I honestly have no clue. Last time we were in Budapest and before that, Hong Kong.”

“Life of a spy is no easy life, huh?” Tommy asked with a sly smile.

Oliver chuckled as he looked at his various passports.

“No, it’s not.” He agreed as he checked over his guns. “At least beats all the paper work.”

“Hey, it’s my paper work that saved your ass okay?”

“Oh please, Budapest would have gone smoothly if you hadn’t been too busy flirting with that chick.”

“Mistakes happen.” Tommy raised his hands. “And they’re totally allowed if they’re hot.”

Oliver grinned as he zipped up his duffel bag and suitcase.

“Well, that should be it. You’ll send me anything else that I might need right?”

“Of course dude. In fact, I’m going to ask Mom if I can be your Handler.”

“Tommy, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. I mean your mom has kept you out of this for a reason.” Oliver said warily.

“I don’t care. I was there with you Oliver, and I wasn’t exactly the good boy either. So if you’re going to be punished for something so trivial and stupid then so will I. We’re both in this together.”

Tommy began to feel self-conscious seeing Oliver’s small smile.

“What?”

“Have you been watching _High School Musical_ again?” Oliver asked.

“Too corny?” Tommy knitted his eyebrows feeling embarrassed.

“Yeah.” Oliver replied tight-lipped.

“I might have watched it over Skype with Thea…” Tommy embarrassingly admitted.

“How is she anyways?” Oliver took off his shirt and walked over to the heap of dirty clothes that were beginning to pile up by his bathroom.

“She’s great. Misses you. She’s in Russia right now.” Tommy stared at the various scars that were adorning Oliver’s back.

“You’re staring again.” Oliver stated.

“I can’t help it.” Tommy got up and traced the numerous scars on his back. “Oliver, I’m telling you back out now. You barely made it out last time.”  
Oliver turned around to face his best friend.

“Tommy, I appreciate your concern but don’t ask me to do something that I’m not willing to do. Besides,” He slapped his back lightly. “I’ve got you. You won’t let anything happen to me, now would you?”

“Psshht, hell no. They’re gonna have to get through me first before they can lay a hand on you.”

Grinning, Oliver brought Tommy in for a hug.

“Smile!” Malcolm exclaimed, before taking a picture of Oliver and Tommy.

“Come on Malcolm, a little privacy here.” Oliver gestured between Tommy and himself.

“Tommy, is there something you have to tell me?” Malcolm asked, feigning a shock and placing a hand over his chest.

“Haha, very funny you two.” Tommy dead-panned.

He sat on the edge of the bed while Oliver went around to grab a new set of clothes.

“Dad, can’t you help out in any way?” Tommy pleaded once more.

“Nope! Sorry kiddo. You know the rules. Don’t piss off the Boss.” Malcolm pointedly looked at his son. “Let this be a lesson for you two.”

“Yeah, how not to have fun in your life.”

“From what I heard, you two were being more of a nuisance than fun.” His dad confronted.

“We weren’t the ones being a nuisance, it was that brat!” Oliver said, residual anger residing in his voice.

“Regardless, you need to learn how to control yourself.” Malcolm told Oliver. “Power is a good thing, but you need to learn when to use it and how.”

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Tommy quoted.

“Exactly.” Malcolm ruffled his son’s hair, smilingly. “Now Oliver, I just want you to know that Rebecca is not going to be easy on you. She had a lot of expectations and high hopes from you. Not to mention, you’re practically family and should understand the importance and severity of our business.” Malcolm chided Oliver. “To say that she was disappointed is an understatement. That being said, you might not like where you’re going.”

Oliver stood up straighter as Malcolm informed him of his next destination.

\----------------------------------

“You really astound me sometimes.” Caitlin reproached Felicity who was sitting upon the sofa with her head hanging between her legs. “Out of all the stupid and moronic things you have ever done, this takes the cake. How could you be so stupid and let your judgment be clouded over some guy!” She scolded.

“That _guy_ is a jerk!” Felicity replied.

“And so is the next guy. And the next. And the next!” Caitlin made swirling motions in the air with her arm to which Felicity rolled her eyes. “Felicity, you have to realize that this behavior of yours will no longer be tolerated.”

“Did you file a complaint against me?” Felicity asked accusingly, squinting her eyes at Caitlin.

“I didn’t have to. They found out long before I even picked up the phone.” Felicity fell back against the couch and groaned, covering her face with her hands. “If you don’t start pulling your shit together, they’re going to take action.”

“What are they going to do? Fire me?” Felicity scoffed. “I’m the best agent that they have! They can’t afford to lose me.” She said, pointing at herself and now standing before Caitlin.

“Prove it.” Felicity lowered her arms and slightly hunched. “Prove to them that you still have your wits about you and are not acting out because of an irrational decision you made in your last assignment. Prove to them, that you do not let your emotions to easily influence you while in your line of duty.” Caitlin reprimanded. “Felicity, we have struggled and lost too much. We cannot fall back now.”

“I know. It’s just…” Felicity’s bottom lip quivered as she pondered over the right way to state her dilemma.

“There’s no use in voicing your feelings Felicity. They’re just going to turn a deaf ear to it.” Caitlin rubbed Felicity’s arm before reaching over the countertop for a tablet. “They weren’t exactly happy with how you behaved tonight, considering your face could have gone viral and jeopardized numerous missions, both in the past and future.” Pulling up the appropriate app and bringing out the required information, she turned it over to Felicity. “They’ve decided this will be your next mission. And need I remind you, failure will not be an option this time.”

Felicity looked up from the screen and only now understood the gravity of the situation. Up until now Caitlin had been there saving her ass every time she messed up. However this time Felicity won’t be able to rely on Caitlin. She had taken her for granted way too many times and nearly ruined Caitlin’s credibility.

“Hey, I’ll still be there for you. But just not all the way.” Caitlin said as if sensing what was going through Felicity’s mind.

“Thanks.” Felicity said with a small smile, before hugging her.

Taking the tablet with her, Felicity entered her room. Per usual, she already had a suitcase packed just in case she needed to leave in an emergency. She hopped onto a chair and reached over the cabinet to grab a duffel bag. Throwing it onto the bed, she rummaged through it and pulled out the required passports and documents she would need for her unknown destination.

“I will hook you up with a place to stay and someone you can reach in case of emergencies.” Caitlin informed leaning against the doorframe.

She lightly smiled as Felicity began to clean out her weapons.

“Is it foolish of me to wish you wouldn’t need those?” Caitlin asked.

Looking back at her, Felicity answered with a smile. “Very.”

Caitlin ran up to Felicity and hugged her from behind. “I really do wish things could have been different Felicity.”

Felicity leaned against Caitlin and sighed. “Me too. But hey, I’ve got you this time. Nothing will happen.”

Seeing her friend flash a bright smile, Felicity turned around to give her a tight hug. Interrupted by an alert message, they break off.

Grabbing her phone out of her back pocket, Caitlin read the message.

“I just received the location of your next assignment. You’re not gonna like it.”

Felicity sat down on the edge of the bed as Caitlin grimaced.

\----------------------------------

Oliver made his way past through the tight alley way inside the plane. He absolutely hated the fact that he was being made to take a commercial flight rather than a private. He felt so vulnerable and completely naked without his gun hanging by his hip. He didn’t have a knife, for goodness’ sake. How was he supposed to protect himself if a crisis erupted while flying over the Atlantic Ocean?

Upon arriving at his section, he placed his duffel bag in the space that was left for him. This was another thing he hated. All his fake documents and passports? Yeah, he had to leave them behind too. He had to live under his real alias until he arrived and that ticked him off to no end. The only saving grace he could find is if he could sit by his preferred window seat and not be disturbed the entire ride.

Seeing someone sleeping on what he presumed to be his seat, Oliver looked down at his boarding pass for confirmation. He took a deep sigh, and tapped the sleeping body.

“Excuse me, but you’re in my seat.” Oliver stated.

“No, I’m not.” Came back the reply.

Oliver clenched his fists to control himself.

“Yes, you are.”

“Dude, just sit in the next one and stop bothering me. I already have a splitting headache.”

“I don’t care whether you have a headache or are puking your lungs out right now. You’re in my seat, and I want it back.”

“Hey, look here pal, I don’t give a rat’s ass about this being your seat. I came here first, so I get to keep it. Now bugger off!” The voice snapped from underneath the mass of blankets.

In any other circumstance, Oliver would have had this nuisance dealt with a long time ago. However, he couldn’t help but put a particular name to this trouble. The color from Oliver’s face fell as he began to pray as he never prayed before.

“No, no, no!” Oliver exclaimed as the blankets began to shuffle.

“Felicity?!” Oliver shouted, giving a name to his worst nightmare.

“Jerk?!” Felicity exclaimed as she finally poked her head out of the blankets.


End file.
